


your horizon to chase

by Windmire



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 14:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windmire/pseuds/Windmire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>The first time Hikaru takes Touya to the Go salon (</i>Dougenzaka<i>, not the one full of Touya's groupies) is months after the Hokuto Cup and the Young Lions Tournament.</i></p><p>A series of firsts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your horizon to chase

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say? I recently revisited the series for the first time in years and I was inspired. Figured I'd do _something_. I'm still not sure I have any idea what that something is though.
> 
> 11/08/14: fixed a couple typos and changed the title, because it was bugging me.

The first time Hikaru takes Touya to the Go salon ( _Dougenzaka_ , not the one full of Touya's groupies) is months after the Hokuto Cup and the Young Lions Tournament, months after he's reached 2 Dan, and weeks after his sixteenth birthday. The loss against Ko Yong Ha doesn't quite sting as much anymore, but he still anxiously awaits the next Cup, next year-- in Beijing this time, the rumors say-- for another chance. For the moment, however, he's got plenty to keep himself occupied with in Japan. There are plenty of study group meetings and teaching jobs and matches and tournaments and leagues and weekly games with Touya to go to, and he's busy, but he couldn't be any happier.

And he tries to make time for other things besides Go; he really does, to mixed results. The time he spends with his middle school friends, the old Go club, ends up being more about the game when Akari or one of the others (even Mitani sometimes, when he bothers to show up to their meetings, though he'd never admit he's there to see _Hikaru_ ) inevitably ends up asking him about his latest matches, about his upcoming matches and then they end up playing together, naturally, because what kind of ex-Go club members don't play against each other, really? And maybe they'll actually make it to the movies or the arcade one of these days.

And all of his other friends are as Go-obsessed as he is, so it's not like _they're_ about to go to the beach with him, or at least not without some foldable Go sets. And he still can't quite seem to relate to his parents very well, finds himself mentioning Go and being met with nothing but blank expressions and attempts at being encouraging, and his grandparents are the ones who bring it up to him all the time now, so really. Why bother doing anything that _isn't_ related to Go by this point?

So when he figures out when his next day off will be he floats the idea by Touya during one of their weekly games, suggests going after leaving Serizawa-sensei's study group meeting next week, and he gets this weird look on his face, a little puzzled, a little startled, but then he's almost smiling and he nods, then proceeds to set down a stone that absolutely decimates Hikaru's defenses on the left.

Jerk.

He's perfectly polite and kind when they actually enter Dougenzaka though and, as Hikaru expected, the patrons immediately love him and fawn over him and he's pretty sure he hears at least two autograph requests. Touya's clearly unprepared and Hikaru feels a brief stab of guilt at not warning him beforehand, but then he handles them all with a polite smile and some soft words and if they were charmed before, they're absolutely smitten now, and the guilt fades. The fact that Kawai slings one arm around his shoulder and ruffles his hair so hard he's sure he'll have scorch marks on his scalp while berating him for not bringing Touya over sooner also helps. ("Shindou, you punk! Too high and mighty to remember to introduce your pro friends to us?!")

They're all a bunch of stupid jerks, too.

But there's a reason he wanted to take Touya to the salon though and it doesn't take him long to remember it, not when the regulars are _also_ immediately generally much more interesting and nicer people than those stiffs over at Touya-sensei's salon. They're loud and boisterous as usual and as encouraging as ever, to the _both_ of them, and it doesn't matter that it's Touya Akira, 4 Dan extraordinaire, that's in their salon. They still treat him like he's one of their own, like he's just another punk kid pro, and before he knows it, they've got the both of them playing against the regulars and then each other and he of the stick up his ass actually seems to be enjoying himself, enjoying the noise and the games. Unsurprisingly, they end up in a shouting match after their game, berating each other for the usual mistakes and bad moves, and, amazingly, the patrons and the owner actually cheer them on as they shriek at each other at the top of their lungs and it's great, it's _fantastic_ , and he can't imagine having spent his free time any other way.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru tries to do something with Touya that isn't Go-related-- and isn't lunch in between matches or a walk to the train station-- it's January and Touya's the same age as him again. They never make it to the fast food restaurant they'd meant to have a late lunch in. (Which, really, isn't much of an outing, but they hadn't exactly purposely set out to do something unrelated to Go.)

A couple of old men stop them on the way there, and it's seriously _creepy_ how it's always the old geezers who can pick them out of a crowd, and he can totally feel Touya stiffen next to him at the sudden intrusion into their privacy, but the two of them are so excited and anxious to meet a couple of real life pros that even he can't be reproachful for long. Before long, the two of them find themselves in a small Go salon, one that Hikaru's actually never been in before, not even when he, Waya, and Isumi had been rampaging through every salon they could find.

It's small and cozy, with comfortable-looking chairs on either side of each of the Go boards and a smiling cashier who remarks on how rare it is to see newcomers in the salon. But she steers them to what she claims is the warmest part of the salon and brings them hot tea when the geezers get them to play shidougo against them and a couple of old wizened ladies that, to Hikaru's surprise, end up being the owners of the salon, although he's still half-convinced they're about to start cackling and fly off on a couple of broomsticks instead of playing Go.

But both pairs of old timers not only play solid Go, but keep up a constant stream of chatter during their games. They talk about how they all came to play Go, about amateur tournaments, about their own lives and families, and about the pros of previous generations that they'd kept track of (and it's with no small amount of pleasure that Hikaru laughs along with old lady Yaguroma when she tells them about Kuwabara-sensei's run-ins with the crazy old bastard of _his_ generation, as Touya tries, and fails, to hide his own grin). Their stories are actually interesting, funny, and he finds himself enjoying the teaching games and, judging by that smile that keeps quirking the corner of Touya's lips, he's not the only one, and by the time the cashier's brought them snacks to go with the tea, a small crowd's formed around them. It's quieter than the one that formed at Dougenzaka, much more sedate, yet still a lot more exciting than the ones that form at Touya-sensei's salon (or as exciting as a crowd of old geezers can ever be) and it's... a nice feeling, a nice change of pace, kind of like hanging out with a bunch of clones of his grandfather, though he's still not sure how they'd react if the two of them started arguing.

Just in case, they refrain from discussing the game when they actually do play against each other.

Wouldn't wanna give the old bastards a collective heart attack.

 

\----------

 

The first time Touya meets one of Hikaru's non-pro and non-insei friends is in April, less than a month before the second Hokuto Cup, where the same team will be representing Japan again. Yashiro's been coming over to Tokyo to train with them more, and more often the two of them have even gone to the Kansai Go Association a few times themselves and between those practice matches, their own regular matches, the usual study group meetings and teaching jobs, and preparations for the trip to Beijing ("A-ah, Hikaru! Won't you need more than your suit and a change of underwear in China?!" his mom asks him one evening, looking more harried than she has in a good long while as she holds up his suit in one hand a dress shirt in the other.), Hikaru barely has time to breathe.

So it's completely by accident that, after one of their weekly games, he and Touya actually do end up doing that something unrelated to Go that they didn't even mean to do in the first place. Instead of walking to the train station together after their last game runs late, they end up stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way there (not the same one they'd failed to reach last time, but who's even checking?) and after they've sat down with their food-- and Hikaru can't help but snort at how properly Touya sits here, of all places, in his flimsy plastic chair-- a familiar voice catches his attention.

"Hikaru! Hikaru, what are you doing here?" It's Akari, with Tsuda and Kaneko, in her high school uniform, her bag slung over one shoulder and a tray of food in her hands, and she's grinning and waving, heading straight for their table, Tsuda and Kaneko at her heels.

Introductions go smoothly, and Touya is perfectly gracious and polite to the girls, of course, and they all end up eating at the same table together. It's a little awkward at first, with someone the girls aren't very familiar with in their midst and the wildly different occupations of high school student and Go professional between them, and not only does Hikaru feel a brief pang of guilt at how long it's been since he's last had the time to hang out with any of them but Touya, but he's got a creeping certainty that, at the moment, they're more excited to see his rival than _him_. But then Akari brings up her high school Go club and it fades. They discuss clubs and high school tournaments and amateur tournaments in general and eventually, when Akari's eaten all his fries and he's contemplating whether he can get away with stealing _Touya's_ without him turning that scary glare on him, the conversation turns to the upcoming Hokuto Cup and he just doesn't know why he ever thought any of his friends could go five minutes without talking about Go.

Not that he's complaining. 

The five of them part ways at the train station, the girls' encouragements to kick some ass in China the next month still ringing in their ears.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru spends the day in an unfamiliar city with Touya (and Yashiro) without any kind of matches is in Beijing, two days after the end of the second Hokuto Cup. Japan still doesn't win this time, loses first place to the suddenly so much stronger Chinese team this year, but they climb their way up to second place and Hikaru gets to have his rematch with Ko Yong Ha so, all in all, it's a good time.

They don't return immediately to Japan after it's over though. Instead, they spend a day in the Chinese Go Institute, then have another to themselves before their flight leaves the next morning. Kurata forbids them from hanging around the Institute again on the second day and, after handing each of them a map and strict instructions on when to return to their hotel, turns them loose on the city. ("And I don't want to see your faces again until it starts getting dark out," he says earnestly, eyes wide.)

Hikaru doesn't know any Chinese. Yashiro doesn't know any Chinese. Touya's Chinese is passable at best.

Hikaru not-so-secretly and not-so-quietly thinks that Kurata's full of it, leaving the three of them with no reliable means of translation when they could have played Go with the Chinese pros or each other some more.

Yashiro disagrees.

"He probably just didn't want you guys to keep scaring the Chinese guys with your yelling," he says with a shrug, perfectly matter-of-fact. (It's easy to forget, sometimes, just how quickly Yashiro's grown used to their shouting matches, to the point where he barely bats an eye at them now.)

Hikaru finds he can't argue with that and even Touya drops the sour look on his face, replacing it with a thoughtful frown, before nodding. "I guess it would be a concern. Lee-sensei did..." He grimaces, shaking his head. "He did seem somewhat upset yesterday."

Awkward.

So they somehow manage to navigate their way through the crowded streets, full of people speaking a language only one of them can understand, and only just. But then they find an arcade and it doesn't matter that they don't speak Chinese, Hikaru doesn't _need_ to in order to understand the games and neither does Yashiro, and Touya protests, but it's half-hearted and he's not complaining at all by the time they're actually inside, in the midst of all the bright, flashing lights and loud noises. Sure, he looks bewildered and a little bit like he's about to turn right back around and walk all the way back to their hotel, Kurata's orders or not, but he's good-natured enough to let Hikaru and Yashiro teach him how to play one of the games, a fighting game, though he's clearly not that fond of it, and the three of them take turns playing it.

("Come on," Hikaru cajoles, his hands already on the buttons. "Even you can play this one!")

And Yashiro's decimating the two of them whenever they play against him and Touya's at times actually decent at the game and at times absolutely horrid and Hikaru can't remember the last time he had so much fun with something that wasn't Go.

And when he and his rival end up arguing loudly ( _shrieking_ at each other) after a particularly brutal game against each other, a bored-looking Yashiro behind them, and an arcade full of confused patrons staring at the two foreigners yelling at each other, well...

Well, that just makes it all the better.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru's parents meet Touya is in August, three months after the third Hokuto Cup. This time, it takes place in Seoul and Japan finally, _finally_ , wins first place, with China trailing behind them in second place, and Hikaru knows he's not the only one to notice the, admittedly kind of funny, pattern here. (It's not quite as funny when he realizes that, if the pattern holds, they're set for dead last again next year, but he has every intention of bucking the trend.)

It's August and it's hot, so _so_ hot, and he's been spending more time than usual with Akari and his middle school friends, as they go on about this being their last (!) summer vacation before they graduate high school and Hikaru can't really relate, not when he finished his schooling after the ninth grade and, with his job, sometimes he doesn't remember what it's like to have free time ("Seriously, Hikaru, you don't have to put it _that_ way."), but he shrugs and goes to hang out with them anyway whenever he has the time for it. They go to the movies, to arcades, and the beach and they end up at least talking about Go more often than not, but that suits him just fine.

So it's during one day where he's got some free time and his school friends have all scattered to frantically finish their homework in time that he drops by Touya-sensei's salon. It's not their weekly meeting but he knows Touya's free that day and it's not like he ever complains when Hikaru comes by unannounced. Besides, he's been itching to play him again.

They play a series of _amazing_ games, freakin' amazing, and their arguments are extra loud (and extra stupid, he can admit to himself later) and, unsurprisingly, this is one of the times where Hikaru storms out in the middle of it, grabs his bag when Ichikawa hands it to him... and leaves his cellphone next to the Go board.

(" _Aaargh_! I _just_ got it! I'm not used to carrying it around yet!" he later whines to his mother, arms crossed and shoulders hunched.)

Later, once he's already gone back home, a hesitant-sounding Touya calls their landline, from Hikaru's phone, naturally. ("Please forgive me for the intrusion, but I thought checking Shindou's contacts would be...") Next thing he knows, his mother's giving his lifelong rival directions to his house and it hits him for the first time that, as many times as Touya's followed him to the weirdest of places over the years, he's never once been to his house. And Hikaru _has_ been to his house, more than once by now, so he really can't find it in him to mind, not even a little. 

Two hours later, on the dot, Touya's at his door, just in time for both dinner and for his dad to get home. Very carefully, he hands Hikaru his phone, a bit of a sheepish smile on his face that he really doesn't get. After all, _he_ was the one who forgot his phone, not Touya.

His mother thanks him profusely, apologizing for her "ungrateful son" when he's not grateful enough for her taste or something, ("What?! I said thank you, didn't I, Touya?! Didn't I?!") but really, it's _Touya_. He doesn't need to stand on ceremony with him.

Afterward, Touya seems to have no idea what to say to either of his parents, and his dad keeps his mouth shut, but his mother's clearly determined to get to know her son's friends, to get to know this boy she's heard so much about already ("Ah... But he's the one you're always talking about, isn't he, Hikaru? Since you were twelve?" she whispers to him at one point during the evening.) and, upon finding out the older Touyas are in Europe, of all places, she immediately invites him to stay over for dinner. It's short notice, but she's so eager that Touya quickly relents and they actually do have a nice enough dinner once his parents manage to relax and they start asking him about his own career as a pro, about his parents, about his friendship (Or rivalry? They can't seem to decide which word to use.) with Hikaru and even Hikaru can't find any reason to complain. At least, not any more than just a little. These are his parents and _Touya_ , after all.

(And when the two of them start playing Blind Go together in whispers at the dinner table, they manage to refrain from trading more than a few token insults in front of his parents.)

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru celebrates a victory of Touya's-- they celebrated after the Hokuto Cups, of course, with Yashiro and Kurata, but that was a victory shared between all of them-- it's a year after the fourth Hokuto Cup and they're too old now to participate in it anymore. They won the fourth cup, naturally, still with the same team as always, and the four of them had themselves a nice, extended celebration. With how much time they spent together over the years, it just seems natural now for Yashiro to visit Tokyo more often or for them to take the occasional trip over to see him and even Touya and Hikaru themselves are spending more time together, even if Waya says they're already practically living in each other's pockets.

("Come on, Waya, you're just saying that 'cause you don't like Touya."

"It's got nothing to do with it!" he retorts, but he still laughs and drops the subject, proceeding to tell him all about the game he won against Ochi. And, sometimes, that's the absolute best part of being good friends with Waya. No one else will laugh at Ochi with him like that. ...Or tell him when he's maybe just a little too close to his rival, but who even cares about that?)

There's nothing wrong with spending so much time with his rival anyway. And, besides, they're friends, too, aren't they?

But this is big, this is _major_. At age nineteen, Touya's now Touya Meijin and, sure, he's getting a few snide comments for winning the same title his father once had, but who cares about those losers? It's amazing and Hikaru can't even be mad that he dropped out of the Meijin League before he could reach the finals because _Touya's_ got the title and he is _so_ going to win it off him next year, he just knows it, or he'll win Judan off of Ogata or Honinbou off that evil old man Kuwabara or _something_ , but it's all so incredibly exciting and he can't stop running his mouth off about it to the point that he's sure even Isumi's giving him odd looks. (And Isumi's got an incredible poker face nowadays.)

But somehow, even though Hikaru's pro friends aren't exactly friends with him, they end up throwing a party at Nase's place for Touya. (Nase herself, who made pro a few years ago and has been rising up the ranks so fast she's nearly left Honda in the dust, was actually the one to float the idea by them.) Touya doesn't seem very taken with the idea of a party at first, especially not one full of people he's not exactly friends with, but the fact that Hikaru's friends are willing to do that much is telling enough and he assures him that he'll stick by him the whole night if he wants-- even if he sniffs disdainfully at the insinuation that he can't handle himself in a simple party-- and Touya actually seems all right with the idea by then so a party it is. Besides, it's not like a party full of Go pros could get _that_ rowdy. So maybe Hikaru's amateur friends insist that pros are all clearly insane and eccentric, but it's not like they're going to be doing much more than have some drinks, tell some drunken stories, and play some drunken Go anyway. So what if the guest of honor is still underage for a little longer?

Maybe.

So it's sometime between meeting Nase's boyfriend and having his fifth drink, still very much attached to Touya's side, (who, even after a couple of drinks, hasn't managed to dislodge the stick up his ass, but Hikaru thinks they're making progress on that front) when Waya, very much tipsy, challenges him to a game and then another, then he's playing Isumi, then Honda, then Nase, and finally... finally, the new Touya Meijin himself, who's definitely had a few more drinks while he played the others. They're both playing sloppily, but the others crowd around to watch them anyway and Touya's eyes across the board are just as intense as ever and he can't quite seem to look away from them for a while there until Saeki shoves an elbow into his ribs and reminds him it's _his_ turn. And he can't decide whether all the alcohol agrees or disagrees with them because, by the time their game is done, instead of getting into one of their usual shouting matches while they discuss the game, Hikaru just bursts out into laughter and, surprising just about everyone in the room, so does Touya, though he tries to hide it, and that's just about the end of it for that night.

The next time he sees Touya, he seems absolutely mortified, but Hikaru just can't help but laugh again.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru celebrates a victory of his own with Akira is a year after Akira won Meijin. Hikaru doesn't make it into the Meijin League's finals, again, and he doesn't manage to wrest Judan off Ogata, but he does take Tengen from him and, really, that's even more satisfying. His grandparents are so excited he almost fears they'll have simultaneous heart attacks and his parents don't _really_ get it, but they try and they promise to take him out to dinner whenever his dad next has a day off and all of his pro friends congratulate him and even Yashiro comes out to Tokyo and, most immediate of all, as soon as he's done dodging reporters for _Go Weekly_ and who knows what other Go magazines and papers, there's Akira standing there, congratulating him with a smile on his face. And the expectation that they'll eventually challenge each other for their titles.

He absolutely cannot wait.

They celebrate with another party this year, this time at Waya's place, and his friend makes sure to not only bring ramen, but to invite Akira as well, even though he's been giving them the weirdest, smuggest looks recently whenever he sees them talking to each other. The steady comments about being in each other's pockets haven't really stopped either, but Hikaru can only grin and shrug them off now.

In any case, it's pretty much the same crowd as last year in Waya's apartment, plus Yashiro, and even Ochi deigns to make an appearance. It's actually a calmer party this time, for some weird reason, but Hikaru suspects it's due to him rounding everyone up and challenging each and every one of them to a game because he's won, he's won, he's _Shindou Tengen_ and he absolutely cannot stop playing Go, not now, not ever.

Or at least not until Waya yells at everyone to stop playing, grimacing even as he does so, as if he cannot believe he's actually telling people to _not_ play Go, but then he's putting some terrible romcom on his TV and everyone's attention is diverted and, maybe it's this party's drinks, but they actually do watch the entire thing, and then another, and another and Hikaru steadfastly ignores Waya's snickers and Isumi's polite attempts at _not laughing_ when he and Akira and up leaning against each other as they watch movie after terrible movie.

Not bad as far as celebrations go. Not bad at all.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru tells Akira a secret-- an important one, one close to his heart, one he'd _promised_ to share with him someday, not the smaller ones he's shared over the years-- it's early in May, exactly seven years after a certain May 5th.

It's a relief, _solace_ , to finally speak the words, to have someone to share something so significant with.

He dreams of Sai that night.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru goes to Hiroshima with Akira is in May, exactly eight years after a certain May 5th and eight years since the last time he was in Hiroshima.

They don't say much that day.

But Akira sticks close to him the whole day, listens intently to Hikaru's careful, hesitant stories as they visit and view all the Shuusaku sights, and gently takes his hand as he leads them back to their hotel.

 

\----------

 

The first time Hikaru moves into his own place, out of his parent's house, is in July, almost eleven years after he met a certain Heian ghost, almost eleven years since he first walked into Touya-sensei's Go salon.

He moves into his own apartment with Akira and his mother's distraught at first, but she gives them her blessing, as does his dad, along with Akira's parents.

It's a small apartment, really, but it's plenty big for the both of them, it certainly has enough room for them to put all of their stuff, anyway. They put a Go board in the living room, between the couch and the TV, another board in the spare room, and yet another in their bedroom.

They don't bother to try to have to separate bedrooms. There's not much point in hiding it by now anyway.

They plan to play Go together in the mornings and in the evenings after work or before bed and they can't agree on what kinds of food they should stock their pantry and fridge with and Hikaru knows, he just _knows_ they're going to bicker about anything and everything, but that's fine. That's just fine.

He wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
